A tour of the Piccolo Craft Fair

Image by Harper Poe/TheDigitelImage by 20090530-crafts.jpg

After TheDigitel checked out the ongoings in Marion Square, I thought I'd take a quick tour of the 30th annual Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Show, where more than 100 artists displaying traditional and contemporary crafts in Wragg Square.

Get more coverage in our Spoleto special section. These artists from all over the United States will be displaying and selling their jewelry, sweetgrass baskets, potters, glass artists, woodworkers, painters, photographers, and textiles.  

This year it's particularly nice to see the fair, as crafts have been all the rage lately with mainstream stores such as Anthropologie having a strong handmade presence.

A few booths that really stood out were Betsey Carter ceramics, based in Charleston. The amazing scissor cuttings or Scherenschnitte by Marie-Helene L. Grabman whose pieces were amazing, delicate, and strangely modern. Sweetgrass basket makers Sue Middleton and Elizabeth Mazyck were exhibiting the lowcountry favorite craft. Zephyrus' stained glass had a very art deco and Mondrian feel to it but the favorite booth of the day was D. Pierece Giltner's. The booth itself was made from reclaimed wood from old tenement housing outside of Chester, South Carolina, and his pieces painting on reclaimed tin scream lowcountry.

The Piccolo Spoleto Crafts Show is going on this weekend, May 29th through May 31st in Wragg Square, at Charlotte and Meetings Streets.

The show will be open on Saturday, May 30th from 10:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, May 31st from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.